Wranglers call off search for alligator

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LOS ANGELES - Reptile wranglers searching for an alligator let loose in a southern California lake have given up the hunt - at least for now.

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The alligator was spotted Aug. 12 in Harbor City's Lake Machado, and since then hundreds of visitors have flocked to the South Los Angeles park for a glimpse.

However, the reptile has not been seen since Aug. 21.

"We are considering this halftime," Tim Williams, a 30-year gator handler from Florida, said Friday when the search was called off. "He's won the first half."

Two men were arrested this past week for conspiring to release the alligator in the 56-acre lake.

Williams said the gator has plenty of food - frogs and crayfish inhabiting the lake, and tortillas and chicken legs left by visitors and park officials.

Abraham Amezcua, 35, who was selling T-shirts reading "You'll Never Catch Me" in English and Spanish, said the gator might not be seen for a long time.

"He's spooked," Williams said. "He knows something is up."

Army worker suspect in possible DNA deceit

WASHINGTON - Hundreds of cases dating back a decade or more might hang in the balance if investigators confirm that a civilian forensic examiner at the Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory falsified DNA test results.

The examiner on June 2 admitted making a false entry on a control sample used during one DNA examination, the Army Criminal Investigation Command disclosed Friday.

The lab now is reviewing 479 or more cases the accused examiner has worked on since he began in 1995, the CID said.

The examiner, whose name was withheld, was suspended from duty in May after the allegations surfaced.